Connections between Living on the Salaš and in the Town among the Bunjevci Croats in Bačka

Abstract

Većina je bunjevačkih obiteljskih zadruga uz salaš, kao specifičan stambeni i gospodarski prostor, imala i kuću u gradu. Razlog tomu dobrim dijelom valja tražiti u činjenici da na salašima nije bilo organizirane trgovine ni administrativnih i vjerskih ustanova. U pojedinim zadrugama domaćin i domaćica su živjeli u gradu ili su pojedini članovi povremeno, po potrebi, dolazili u grad ili su određeno vrijeme boravili u gradu. Istraživanja koja su prethodila pripremi izložbe Iz baštine bačkih Hrvata — Bunjevaca potvrdila su povezanost života bačkih Bunjevaca na salašu i u gradu u prošlosti i sadašnjosti. Salaš je gospodarska osnova na kojoj se temelji dobrobit mnogih bunjevačkih građanskih obitelji.Research on extended families named zadruga among the Bunjevci Croats in Bačka has pointed to the connections between the living on the salaš (the farm) and in the town. The majority of those families, along with the salaš as a specific dwelling and economic space, also owned a household in the town. In some families the master lived in the town with his wife, separated from their sons, but they still functioned as an economic and family whole. The father kept all his rights, but the eldest son was the one who acomplished the majority of his duties on the salaš. Still the members of the zadruga mostly did not live in the town, they spent some time occasionally there according to their needs. The reason why the members of the zadruga had a separate house in the town could lie in the fact that there was neither organized commerce nor administrative and religious institutions near the salaš. The preparation of the exhibition From the Heritage of the Bunjevci Croats in Bačka has confirmed the fact that the descendents of those families, who nowadays live in Croatia, use the articles they have inherited from their ancestors to show their manyfolded connection to the life on the salaš. The salaš represents an economic basis on which the wellbeing of many Bunjevci urban families and their way of life in general have been founded. The articles from their homeland, which they have brought to Croatia, originate from or are indirectly connected with the living on the salaš. These articles became the symbols of their identity and connection with their homeland. The research on the way of life of the Bunjevci in Bačka in the past and in the present has confirmed close connection of the living on the salaš and in the town, which have been rooted in the system of extended families